Album

The God Invasion: Envisioning the Church as Soldiers of the Cross

This book is the second of a series that examines the Holy Spirit inspired biblical metaphors that God has used in his Word to describe the nature, purpose and function of his church. If you believe as I do, that God conceived and created the church then I think you would agree with me when I say that no one but God has the right to define what the church is. The church is neither what I nor what you think it is but what God says it is. God has amply defined throughout the Scriptures what the church is. Jesus said, “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” More than two-thousand years have passed and yet statistics indicate that the church hasn’t made as much progress as one would expect after the first century. This book offers an explanation of the apparent disconnect between Christ’s words and the hapless state of his church today. The United States Census Bureau Records give some startling statistics, backed up by denominational reports from major denominations: Every year more than 4000 churches close their doors compared to just over 1000 new church starts! Every year, 2.7 million church members fall into inactivity. Research suggests that they are leaving churches as hurting and wounded victims of some kind of abuse, disillusionment, or neglect. From 1990 to 2000, the combined membership of all Protestant denominations in the USA declined by almost 5 million members (9.5%), while the US population increased by 24 million (11%). Between 1992 and 2002, 77% to 87% of the American population identified itself as Christian. Yet only 22% of Americans "frequently" attended church in 1992 20.5% of Americans "frequently" attended church in 1995 19% of Americans "frequently" attended church in 1999 18.0% of Americans "frequently" attended in church in 2002 The God invasion is a quick read that examines why God chose the metaphor of an army to describe important aspects of the nature of his church. When we understand the kingdom aspect of our identity as Christ’s church, we can eff

Tracks: 5 · 49,355 plays